Quote Originally Posted by The Stranger
i think you should leave on the shield value because it works against arrows... but you should also add the same amount the shield distracts instead of adds to the defence value. Adding it to the armour wouldnt be that smart because it would greatly improve the effect of armour piercing units. Because the shield bug distracts points in their defensive ability and they will die faster i think that adding points to the defensevalue is good because they can now better defend themself...
Well, armor piercing units have the AP value applied to shield value too... Not just armor. So it doesn't really overpower AP units. Actually adding the shield value to defense skill underpowers AP units. But that's not a huge deal...

The main issue with adding it to armor is that it makes missile troops too ineffective since you can't use enfilade and flanking fire to overcome the shield value.

Personally my preferred solution is to put double their shield value into defense skill. This counteracts the negative value, and gives them the melee advantage that they would normally gain from the shield, leaves them with the shield value against missile fire, and basically doesn't overpower them at all in normal play. It makes them overpowered in autocalc, but I never autocalc a battle so it's no big deal to me.